Passerby Villain In A Wizard World

"Who?"

The old man who was about to attack Arvhael was suddenly stunned after hearing the voice behind him.

You know, this place was inside his space. He basically knew everything within. But suddenly, he heard someone's voice—someone he had no idea about.

Of course, he would be surprised, more so than Arvhael, who was called stupid out of nowhere.

"Tch... tch... villain dies talking too much. Don't you even know that? But I have to say, you appearing like this saves the trouble for me."

Before the old man could do anything, he heard a sarcastic word right next to his ears, followed by a long arm covered in a translucent gauntlet suddenly resting on his shoulder, holding him in place.

"What? Who are you?"

If before the mirror was only surprised, then this time he was completely flustered.

Because the moment the arm was placed atop his shoulder, he suddenly felt that he couldn't move.

Not only the movement, he couldn't even connect with his own body or artifact.

It was as if his soul was disconnected from his body.

'Hmm, just as I thought. There is no need to use Ethereal form anymore.'

Ian thought as his body, covered in the black robe, slowly materialized into existence.

Because he was using part of the armor, he wanted to minimize the consumption as much as possible.

Then, as if feeling something, Ian suddenly turned his head to Arvhael.

"If I were you, I wouldn't try to use that thing at this time," Ian said while looking at the guy who was beginning to supply mana into the obsidian crystal.

After Ian controlled the soul of the mirror, Arvhael was finally freed from the bindings of the mirror.

And the first thing he did after getting out of the trap was to supply mana into the Doomfang Crystal.

He didn't even express surprise or care who Ian was.

He seemed to want to summon that entity to bring destruction.

'Did he take it to heart that I said he was stupid?'

Ian thought, twitching the corner of his mouth.

"Why? Do you think I will believe you just because you saved me? Haha... let all of you die with me. You peasants... let the wrath of chaos befall upon you all."

Arvhael seemed to have gone mad as his bloodshot eyes looked at Ian and the old man with equal hatred.

Then, he accelerated the supply of mana, even forgetting everything.

However, before he could go any further, a leafy branch suddenly whipped out, wrapping around the obsidian crystal in his hand and yanking it away.

It happened so fast, he couldn't even react.

"NO! Give me my crystal back!"

Arvhael stared at his empty hands, rage boiling over as he roared at Ian, demanding the crystal's return.

In that moment, he resembled one of those unhinged heretics—willing to burn the world down just to get what they wanted.

Suddenly, crackling energy began to form around him, sparks of dense lightning dancing across his skin, his body trembling with barely restrained fury.

He looked ready to unleash hell, just like before, or more so than before.

However, before he could do anything, a wave of thick murderous intent suddenly crashed down on him like a mountain.

The killing intent was so thick and heavy that his body completely froze on instinct.

It felt like a cold, suffocating void—like something pulled straight from the abyss—gripped the air around him.

Even the temperature seemed to plummet.

"Make one more move, and I'll kill you right here and now."

The sheer force behind Ian's words pierced through Arvhael like a dagger to the soul, awakening him from his stupor.

And when his eyes met the cold, unreadable gaze behind the mask that had no emotion, just a hollow certainty, he suddenly felt that if he really moved even a little now, he would die.

Without a doubt.

'Who is this guy?'

Arvhael finally came to his senses and questioned unconsciously.

Even when he was facing a large number of sentient spiritual fire copies or when being bound by the mirror, he didn't feel this way.

But now, just a word and a gaze were enough to make him shiver uncontrollably from his core, as his very existence was warning him not to go against him.

"Good! Like I said, don't be stupid. I might tolerate it once or twice, but that's it."

Seeing him coming to his senses, Ian suddenly smiled, removing the murderous intent that locked Arvhael, and lectured him a little.

Then he finally looked at the old man in front, who had gone silent after the initial surprise.

"Are you waiting for the help of that guy above?"

He suddenly smirked or asked, as if he wasn't surprised why the old man didn't struggle.

"Who are you?"

However, the soul of the mirror still asked Ian the same question again, but this time with solemnity. His old eyes looked at Ian's figure as if he was really curious who he was.

"Who am I?"

Ian was quite surprised by the mirror's sudden shift in expression. However, he didn't care, just replied with a smile,

"Honestly, even I don't know who I am."

He told the truth, as after the hatching of the cocoon and the emergence of the butterfly in his consciousness, he was in this weird state of mind.

He felt that he truly didn't know who he was.

But that wasn't the main concern this time.

"Welp, it seems you left some methods to that guy. But... are you sure he won't betray you?"

Ian suddenly asked, his gaze shifting upward when the mirror, which had been stagnant before, began to rotate rapidly out of nowhere.

Despite Ian holding the mirror's soul, it moved on its own, as if someone else had taken control.

Then, it quickly began to shrink violently, centering around Ian and the others as if trying to trap them within its confines.

Ian could already feel the mental pressure from the mirror, along with the same binding light that had restrained Arvhael earlier.

From the moment of activation to the sudden assault, everything happened so fast—so abruptly—it felt like the mirror was trying to take him down in a single instant.

This clearly meant Carl now had full control over the artifact.

'This guy is quite decisive,' Ian thought.

"It's that bastard again."

Arvhael felt the sudden shift in the air and looked up.

There, floating above them, was a black-robed figure with only one arm visible, staring down at them with an intense gaze.

It was none other than Carl who finally got control over the mirror again.

However, despite all the ruckus around, Ian was still as easygoing as ever. Not at all anxious.

His calmness was so weird that even Arvhael, who was about to get angry again, stopped abruptly.

'Does he have some plan?' he thought, not realizing he was unconsciously placing his safety over this guy who appeared out of nowhere.

"Haha... young man, you are indeed something, as even now you can remain so calm."

However, the old man, on the other hand, finally smiled at Ian,

"But don't worry, that guy won't betray me, because he needs me. After all, I am the soul of this mirror. Without me, you can't control this artifact completely, not to mention increasing its rank."

The old man said with a little smugness.

"However, are you sure you want to fight here? I don't know what abilities you have, but once you are locked inside here, there is no way you can leave this place alive. Not when you have only a First Ring Wizard level."

He then spoke while looking at Ian with intense curiosity.

In fact, he still wondered if he had made a mistake while fighting Arvhael, somehow allowing Ian to slip into this place.

But now that the mirror was active and locking onto his figure, he wanted to know if Ian truly had that ability.

"Fight? Why would I need to fight? And who said I can't leave this place?"

But what he got in return for his curiosity was strong sarcasm and contempt that Ian didn't even bother to hide.

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

The old man was stunned by Ian's sudden change and asked subconsciously when suddenly he felt the translucent hand atop his shoulder suddenly sinking into his body.

"W-What? What... are you doing?"

He asked, bewildered—only to suddenly feel something tugging at his very being. It was as if someone was tearing at his essence with overwhelming force, trying to rip it apart.

If he had been a real human, the pain would have been unbearable, enough to shatter his mind.

But even though he couldn't feel pain, a deep dread crept in as he finally realized that Ian was extracting his essence with his bare hand.

It was so absurd on so many levels that the phrase slipping from his mouth was the same question he had once asked Ian, spoken now in disbelief.

"Who are you?"

However, before he could hear anything, his figure began to melt rapidly like a candle in flame, as Ian reached in and pulled out a glowing glob of essence with his bare hand.

Throughout the entire process, the old man couldn't even struggle. Ian had simply extracted his soul essence effortlessly and without resistance.

There was no fight at all. He wasn't even worthy of one.

"Gulp!"